Lost In Translation
by Belowski
Summary: Manjoume decides to research Australian culture in preparation for his study date with Jim when things don't go exactly as planned.


Face glowing from the computer screen, Manjoume typed away, boney fingers clacking against the keys in a controlled frenzy. Crying crickets sang the song of the night, twinkling chirps going unheard by ears clogged with louder, more melodious sounds. The former Obelisk remained concentrated and blind to his surroundings until a popping tug released his ears and a chiming voice attracted his attention.

"Manjooooume! Can you hear meeee?"

"It's Manjoume Thunder," he grumbled, "and yes, I can here you. Now what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I'm here to cheat off you, of course!" Judai said a bit too shamelessly. "Which of Chronos's assignments are you doing?"

"None, I'm doing research."

"About what?"

Manjoume sighed as he noticed the Osiris was leaning on his chair and making himself comfortable, deciding he might as well tell him. "I'm looking up things about the cultures of the exchange students. You know how foreigners always have those weird customs."

"Yeah, I remember Johan telling me about how people kiss each other's faces and stuff when they greet where he's from!" Judai laughed.

"Really? Huh." the black-clad teen said. "I thought that was just a European thing, I didn't know they did that in Scandinavia as well."

"Anyways, why are you looking all this up?" he asked. "They can speak Japanese, so it's not like there's a language barrier or anything. Plus they already know all our customs. So what's the point?"

"If you must know, I'm going to be working on a project with Jim tomorrow," Manjoume explained, confidence-brimming voice faltering the slightest when saying the foreign male's name, "and I thought I'd be considerate enough to brush up on Australian culture a little."

Judai gasped as if insulted, though it was apparent he was not due to the smile spread across his face. "I can't believe you! You're acting nicer towards him than you do me, one of your closest friends!"

"Who ever accused us of being friends?" he spat before rolling his eyes and getting back on topic. "And I'm just looking up the basic things, so I don't accidentally offend him or something."

"If you don't want to offend him," the Osiris snickered, holding his nose, "then you should probably take a shower before you meet up with him!"

"Why you little—!"

The two duelists began throwing empty threats and banters at one another until they eventually grew tired and agreed to part for the sake of slumber, research long forgotten.

* * *

Manjoume swallowed a lump in his throat. He didn't know why, but he was nervous about working with Jim. He knew the exchange student was smart so he wasn't worried about having to pull his weight, and his personality was more than likable even by Manjoume's standards. He had no idea why he was getting so worked up.

Then from the corner of his eye he could see Jim entering the room, walking in his direction with a white smile flashing on his chiseled face, and he remembered exactly why he was so nervous.

"G'day, Manjoume." he said in his foreign tongue before quickly coughing and correcting himself. "I mean, hello."

"_Herro, Jimu."_ the nervous teen said in broken English. "_Hao a-re yuu?"_

Jim tried stifling his laughter but a few wisps of a chuckle managed to come out. If it were anyone else, the former Obelisk would be making them regret daring to mock The Manjoume Thunder, but with the Aussie he felt as if he needed to redeem himself as soon as possible.

'What were some of the things I read last night?' Manjoume thought to himself. 'Dammit, that loser distracted me so much I hardly remember anything! I swear to god the next time I see his stupid face—that's it, face!

Manjoume grabbed the taller teen by the shoulders and stood on the balls of his feet, leaning in and kissing the other male on both cheeks. He pulled away and looked up at the shocked duelist, smiling anxiously.

Jim raised his hand and touched his quickly heating face. "M-Manjoume…"

The black-clad teen's faltering smile immediately fell into a frown when he realized just how much he messed up.

"No!" Manjoume blurted. "I didn't mean that! I-I was looking things on Australian culture last night and Judai was acting like an idiot and now I'm all screwed up!" he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before continuing. "I mixed up the greetings and thought it was like how they do it in Europe. My bad."

Jim flashed another one if his pearly smiles, letting a wave of relieve flow onto the fretting teen, before saying, "It's alright. But, you know, if you'd like me to show you how we Aussies greet each other, I'd be happy to oblige.

"First, we start with a firm handshake." He said, gripping Manjoume's hand tightly. "Eye-contact is also very important."

With his other hand, Jim held the black-clad duelist's chin and made him face forward. Manjoume tried to veer his eyes away but couldn't find it in him to look away from the Aussie's intense pool of cerulean. "And then…"

He leaned in and captured Majoume's lips, smiling into the kiss. The former Obelisk was still at first, but when Jim slid his hand along his jawline to cup his reddening cheek, the flustered teen began to move his mouth. After a few moments of fluttering eyes and puckered lips, Manjoume pushed the taller male away.

"I doubt that last thing was part of any sort of greeting." he said, biting the inside of his cheek.

"On the contrary," the Aussie smirked, "I believe kissing is a rather universal gesture."

Manjoume balled Jim's cream dress shirt in his fist and pulled him back into another kiss, teaching each other a language of foreign tongues.


End file.
